Twenty Years of Rolling the R’s & The White Boy Shuffle

Through fiercely earnest characters navigating a landscape of burning dreams and neglect in a small 1970s Hawaiian community, R. Zamora Linmark’s Rolling the R’s threw new light on queer identity and the trauma of assimilation—and is now available in a new, updated edition from Kaya Press. Paul Beatty’s brilliant, satirical The White Boy Shuffle introduced us to an unforgettable protagonist—a young African American surfer in Los Angeles who reluctantly becomes a messiah for his community. Twenty years after the publication of their first novels, the two authors joined each other in reflection, celebration, and conversation. Moderated by writer Jessica Hagedorn (Toxicology). This event took place on April 5, 2016.